The Mill on the Floss

Based on George Eliot's own growing-up years, this 1860 novel is her most overtly autobiographical work. Even the precisely described scenery reflects the area in Warwickshire where she was raised. THE MILL ON THE FLOSS is the story of affectionate, willful Maggie Tulliver, who is hungry for knowledge and experience, and her more conventional and intolerant brother, Tom--a relationship that mirrors that of George Eliot herself and her beloved brother, Isaac. When Maggie's virtue is compromised on an excursion with her cousin's fiancé, her brother repudiates her, and the two become estranged. The book's rather lurid ending--which involves a devastating flood--is controversial: it has even been considered by some critics to have incestuous overtones. But there is no denying that the ending is thematically appropriate, functioning not only as a dramatic climax to the events but as a metaphor for the passion that is the driving force in the story. THE MILL ON THE FLOSS, one of George Eliot's most enduring novels, is a particularly satisfying example of her domestic realism and her intense sensitivity to the rhythms of rural life.